MovieChat Forums > Boycott (2001) Discussion > Jeffrey Wright as Dr King

Jeffrey Wright as Dr King


I NEED to watch it !!!!!!

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it's a great movie

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One word: Brilliant.

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http://flavorwire.com/499650/selma-boycott-and-king-three-portraits-of -mlk-on-film

In terms of style and scope, Boycott has the most in common with Selma; like Ava DuVernay’s new film, Boycott eschews the full-life-biopic form and instead zeroes in on a single incident that defined the man, this time the 1955-1956 Montgomery Bus Boycott. (It also features Selma’s Carmen Ejogo playing Coretta Scott King for the first time; perhaps, to compete with Boyhood, someone should’ve pointed out that she’s been playing Mrs. King for 13 years.) And it makes for an ideal companion piece since, if you’ll forgive the superhero connotations, it’s something of an origin story. Initially, Dr. King is just a minister, not directly involved with Rosa Parks or the local movement; in early scenes he’s in meetings, listening, his eyes darting, thinking fast. He’s still finding his voice early on, but by the film’s conclusion, it’s firmly in place. And the great Jeffrey Wright, masterful in the role, nails that voice: the long vowels, the staccato consonants, the preacher’s cadences, the sheer electricity of his oratory.

We also find King at a moment where he’s still working out his style of protest. Boycott’s — and Wright’s — best moments remind us that non-violence may have been effective, but it wasn’t always easy, particularly when his family is being threatened. We don’t hear the voices on the other end of the phone, and we don’t have to; in a particularly effective scene, we watch Wright’s Dr. King put the phone back on the cradle deliberately, and then sneer when it rings again. Answering, he slowly, methodically tells the caller, “Do not threaten my family,” and slams the phone so angrily — yes, violently — that he knocks it off the wall.

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